The Stories of H. G. Wells
The best short stories by British writer H. G. Wells. All of H. G. Wells’ short stories. Complete stories ready to read online or print in PDF format.
H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells: The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham
“The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham” is a short story by H. G. Wells, first published in May 1896 in The Idler magazine. Edward Eden, a young medical student, is approached in the street by an elderly stranger who invites him to lunch and proposes making him his heir. Intrigued and tempted by the offer, Eden agrees to undergo a series of medical examinations the old man requires as a condition for sealing the deal. What seems like a providential opportunity soon turns into the threshold of a disturbing fate.
H. G. Wells: The Country of the Blind. Summary and analysis
Nunez, a mountaineer from the regions near Quito, accidentally falls into an isolated valley in the Andes, inhabited by a community that has been blind for generations. Convinced that his vision will give him an advantage, and under the motto “In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king,” he tries to impose himself on the rest, but the inhabitants do not understand the notion of “seeing” and consider him sick. When his plan to become a leader fails, he falls in love with a young woman from the valley and wants to marry her, but the elders make the marriage conditional on his undergoing an operation to remove his eyes. Although he initially agrees out of love, when he sees the beauty of the visible world for the last time, he changes his mind and flees to the mountains.
H. G. Wells: The Country of the Blind
“The Country of the Blind” is a short story by H. G. Wells, published in April 1904 in The Strand Magazine. It tells the story of a mountain guide who, during an expedition in the Andes, suffers an accident that leads him to a remote valley, isolated from the outside world. There, he discovers a population that has lived for centuries without the sense of sight and has developed its life, customs, and beliefs without any reference to the visible world. Convinced that his ability to see will give him an advantage, he tries to impose himself as a leader, unaware that he will face challenges for which he may not be prepared.
H. G. Wells: The Triumphs of a Taxidermist
“The Triumphs of a Taxidermist” is a short story by H. G. Wells, published on March 3, 1894, in the Pall Mall Gazette and collected in the book The Stolen Bacillus and Other Incidents (1895). The story takes place in the small, messy home of an eccentric taxidermist who, between glasses of whiskey, enthusiastically reveals his trade secrets. With a sarcastic and provocative tone, he describes his most unusual achievements: from faking extinct birds to inventing non-existent species. The story, laden with black humor, pokes fun at scientific credulity and the obsession with collecting curiosities.
H. G. Wells: The Valley of Spiders
“The Valley of Spiders” is a short story by H. G. Wells, published in March 1903 in Pearson’s Magazine. It tells the story of three horse riders who are pursued across an inhospitable landscape, searching for a pair of fugitives. After several days of marching through a barren and lonely landscape, the men enter a wide, silent valley that appears uninhabited but soon senses an unsettling presence. As the wind intensifies, an unexpected threat emerges from the sky, transforming the hunt into a struggle for survival in an increasingly hostile environment.